The Justice Department has brought a new challenge against Duke University’s law school, accusing it of illegal racial considerations in its admissions process. This marks a continuation of actions by the Trump administration targeting higher education institutions for alleged misuse of race in college admissions.
In a letter addressed to Duke, the department alleged that the school, despite its claims of race-neutrality, employed factors like personal essays and first-generation college status as proxies for racial preferences. This stance was confirmed by Duke in their statement, acknowledging receipt of the letter and reaffirming their commitment to legal compliance aligned with their academic goals.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon commented, “Duke Law School doesn’t get a free pass to discriminate against white and Asian students simply because it thinks it has good intentions. Using ‘diversity’ essay questions to identify preferred races for admission is still illegal discrimination based on race.”
Since a 2023 Supreme Court ruling, affirmative action in college admissions has been prohibited. However, the ruling allows for consideration of applicants’ backgrounds in terms of broader characteristics. President Donald Trump has argued that institutions are using alternative methods to maintain racial diversity, which he and his supporters view as illegal.
The DOJ has previously identified illegal racial considerations in the admissions processes at Yale and UCLA medical schools and has initiated investigations into 15 other medical schools.
Trump’s administration has also scrutinized undergraduate admissions at selective colleges, requiring them to provide data verifying adherence to Supreme Court mandates.
In its findings, the DOJ highlighted that Black or Hispanic applicants were statistically more likely to be admitted to Duke Law than their white or Asian counterparts with equivalent academic credentials. Specifically, it noted that for the classes of 2024 and 2025, the median LSAT scores of rejected white and Asian applicants were higher than those of admitted Black students.
The department is currently seeking a settlement with Duke Law regarding these findings.
